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Chapter 4: Unexpected Ally
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2026-04-10 19:24:14POV: Best Friend
I’ve seen that look on Ava’s face exactly twice. The first time was when she realized she’d missed a single bonus question on her Calculus final in high school. The second time? Right now, as she stomps into our shared dorm room, her scholarship folder clutched to her chest like it’s a bulletproof vest.
"You look like you just went ten rounds with a blender," I say, not looking up from the nail polish I’m painstakingly applying. "Let me guess. The library didn't have the 1924 edition of whatever boring thing you were looking for?"
"Kai Thorne is a menace," she spits out, collapsing onto her twin bed.
I freeze, the polish brush hovering dangerously over my pinky. "Wait. Back up. You actually talked to the Campus King? The man who has a literal throne in the athlete’s lounge and a trail of broken hearts longer than the stadium bleachers?"
Ava groans into her pillow, her voice muffled but indignant. She explains the 'deal.' The mid-term essay. The way he looked at her scholarship file like it was a bargaining chip. I feel a genuine shiver go down my spine, and it’s not just the drafty dorm window. This is Crestwood University, and around here, scholarship students like Ava are supposed to be invisible. Athletes like Kai? They’re the sun, and everyone else is just hoping not to get burned by the solar flares.
"Ava, listen to me," I say, finally dropping the polish and turning to her with total seriousness. "He isn't just a bad boy with a nice jump shot. He’s the golden boy who can get away with murder because he brings in the donor money. If you do this for him, you’re on his radar. And being on Kai Thorne’s radar is like being a gazelle with a neon sign that says 'Eat Me' in front of a lion."
She sits up, her eyes flashing with that stubbornness I’ve come to love and occasionally fear. "I don’t have a choice. If he leaks the stuff in my file... if the administration thinks I’m not 'culture-fit' material..."
"So? You’re going to be his ghostwriter?" I shake my head, grabbing my phone as it buzzes with a relentless series of notifications. "Anyway, it might be too late for the 'invisible' plan. By the way, have you seen the Crestwood Confessions page in the last three minutes?"
I slide the phone onto her bed. My heart sinks as I watch her face go pale. Someone snapped a photo in the library. It’s blurry, but there’s no mistaking Ava’s frantic expression and Kai’s arrogant, leaning posture.
The caption is already at three hundred likes: Scholarship girl chasing the Star Player through the stacks? Guess some people will do anything for a passing grade—or a piece of the throne.
"They think I was... hitting on him?" Ava whispers, her voice trembling.
"It’s worse than that," I mutter, scrolling down to the comments. My eyes snag on a post from one of the basketball bench-warmers, a guy known for having a big mouth and zero filter. My stomach does a slow, heavy roll. "Ava, look at this comment from Miller. He’s talking about 'The Collection.' It’s the campus bet the guys on the team started last week."
She looks at me, confused. "A bet?"
"They’re betting on who can break the 'Ice Queen' scholarship student first," I explain, the humor completely gone from my voice. "And Kai just took the lead."
Ava's phone chimes with a text from an unknown number: Chapter one of that essay is due by midnight, Scholarship. Don't make me come find you again.
How can she survive the semester when she’s not just a student anymore, but a prize in a high-stakes game?
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